Love and Patience
by Kristen3
Summary: When Grace is scared by a nightmare, she seeks comfort from the new nanny. One-shot.


**Author's Note:**I'm dedicating this story to Melinda (carylfan10), because it was inspired, in a roundabout way, by her recent TN story. I hope you like your surprise! :)

"Fran?" Grace hesitantly knocked on the door. When she didn't hear a response, she opened the door a bit and repeated, "Fran?"

"Huh? What?!" Fran was disoriented. After all, it _was_ the middle of the night.

"It's Gracie. I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you?"

For a moment, Fran was tempted to say no. She'd been in the middle of a dream in which George Clooney had just offered her a lifetime's supply of free Barbra Striesand tickets. But she remembered that these kids were her job. Or at least they had been for the past month. "Sure, sweetie, come here."

Grace gratefully walked into the room and climbed up onto the bed. "Dr. Bort told me that dreams are just a manifestation of subconscious desires, but I don't care. It was still scary!"

Fran pulled the little girl closer. Though Grace had a vocabulary and IQ well beyond her years, she was still, at heart, a child. Fran doubted anyone in this family even understood that. "I'm sorry you had a nightmare. When I was little, I had nightmares too. Usually they were about Sara Lee, Hostess, and Entemann's all going out of business on the same day. Guess you could say I spent a little too much time with Ma. Meanwhile, what was your dream about?"

"I don't think I want to talk about it," Grace replied. "I almost went to Daddy's room, but then I remembered my mom's not there."

Fran's heart broke. These kids needed a mother. Badly. Fran loved all three of them as if they were her very own. But the truth of the matter was, she really didn't have all the instincts a mother should have. Sure, she had gotten lucky on a few things, like being able to stay one step ahead of Brighton's schemes. But this was all new to her. She looked into Gracie's tear-filled eyes and knew the child was expecting her to say something. "Well, if your mother was here, what would she do?"

Grace thought for a moment. She didn't have very many memories of her mom. "Well...I think she used to sing to me sometimes." She had seen a home movie once of her mom singing. She had a pretty good voice.

"I can sing to you, if you want. Would you prefer Barbra, or _Fiddler_?"

"It's OK, Fran. You don't have to sing." Grace said the words a bit more quickly than she'd meant to. "I just...didn't want to be alone."

"Oh, honey, I know _just_ how you feel! Believe me, back in my neighborhood, the last thing you want to be is single, if you're over thirty." Fran could vividly recall the many conversations she'd had with her mother about how she'd never meet anyone if she didn't get out of the house more. But she knew Grace didn't want to hear about that right now. "Look, I know I'm not your mom. But I do love you. Do you believe that?"

Grace nodded. Fran had brought life back into this house. "But I'm not sure Daddy does. He never spends time with us. That's why Brighton's always acting out. He's the middle child, and he craves attention." Once again, Grace's many hours of therapy had taught her well.

"Sweetie, your father loves you. My daddy was the same way. He spent the last forty years in front of the TV. It's how men are. But that doesn't mean they don't love you. Your dad's just scared right now. It's going to take some time, but he'll get over it. Until then, why don't you just lie here and try to go to sleep?" She kissed the top of Grace's head.

Grace smiled. She was starting to feel better. The idea of going to sleep didn't sound scary anymore. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

* * *

Niles awoke first thing in the morning, knowing it was his job to help Fran get the children off to school. Often, the nanny took longer to get out of bed than any of them. For this reason, he made sure to wake the children first so that they wouldn't be late. Maggie and Brighton woke up, with their usual grumbling about school. But when he went to the door of the youngest Sheffield child, he was astonished to find the room empty. He alerted Mr. Sheffield at once.

"Well, she can't have gone far, she's only six!" Max tried not to recall the day that Gracie had run off to Queens on Fran's day off. "Maybe Miss Fine can help us look." Niles nodded, agreeing with his employer's suggestion. Together, they walked toward Fran's bedroom.

"Miss Fine?" Maxwell knocked. He hated the thought of barging into the room unannounced. But there was no answer. He gave Niles a questioning glance. The butler only shrugged in response. So, taking a deep breath, Max opened the door. He was completely startled by what he saw. Not only was Fran sound asleep, but Grace was curled up next to her. He cautiously entered the room, nudging his daughter awake. "Grace, is everything all right?"

It took a moment before Grace's mind could focus. "Yeah. I had a bad dream last night, but Fran helped me. Everything's OK now."

"Well, I guess it's lucky that Miss Fine was here." Max looked over at Fran, who was just now getting up.

Fran smiled at him and mouthed, "You're welcome." Mr. Sheffield was far from being father-of-the-year material right now. But, like his kids, with a little love and patience, Fran was certain she could turn him around, too.

**The End**


End file.
